Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Blue Pearl felt as though she was drowning. The grief of her diamond pulled her under, as was her power. It was exhausting being around her, constantly trying to stay afloat despite the overwhelming sorrow Blue Diamond radiated with.

This was a large reason why she wasn’t all that confused or disappointed when her diamond sent her away. Before, in Era 1, Blue Pearl was almost never alone. When she was, she often spent her time waiting outside of the room Blue Diamond was in, despite the fact that she knew Blue Diamond could summon her even if she went farther.

Blue Diamond had just dismissed Blue Pearl so she could have some alone time. Blue Pearl was glad to be gaining a bit of air, she could still feel ripples of tears as she quickly walked down the dark blue hallway. Now, only one drop flowed down her face and onto the floor. The few guards posted in Blue Diamond’s personal areas had gotten used to a more wandering Blue Pearl, and she walked past them now.

Blue Pearl herself had chosen to push away the empire’s loss of… Her. If she was weighed down by her own grief she surely couldn’t withstand her Diamond’s power at all, since she was barely managing now. It’s not like she could much tell what feelings were hers and what were the puddles of emotion that seemed to surround every gem in Blue Diamond’s entourage, all of them beat down by her powers.

Since Blue Diamond was at her pool, Blue Pearl chose to go to Blue Diamond’s quarters. Despite the film of sadness that covered it, Blue Pearl was used to this area. Besides, it’s not like other areas were much better. 

Looking out of a window, she could see a yellow hand reaching up to the sky, mirroring the blue hand Blue Pearl knew was above her. It was a rare moment where Yellow Diamond was on homeworld. Where Blue Diamond was wallowing in her grief, Blue Pearl observed Yellow Diamond focusing on her work. Honestly, she was wondering why Yellow Diamond had stopped on Homeworld at all.

Blue Pearl pulled out her holo-pad and drew the plaza below the Diamond’s palaces. It was emptier than it used to be, with only a few stray gems wandering from place to place. Most gems were completing their duties solemnly, and staying in one area. Blue Pearl herself hasn’t left Blue Diamond’s palace since the diamonds destroyed every gem on her colony.

From Blue Pearl’s perspective, time was frozen. No matter how many rooms she waited in, no matter how many times she drew what she saw outside of her window, nothing changed. Era 2 was stagnant and empty, or suffocatingly full of grief.

Her holo-pad flashed a brighter blue- her Diamond was summoning her. She tapped it back into her gem and rose to her feet. She traced the same steps she had taken through these halls nearly everyday and returned to the pool room. Blue Diamond hadn’t sent her away for very long this time- she must need something. 

Blue Diamond was looking at the water, and Blue Pearl still felt waves of sadness crashing over her. This is what she expected. Blue Pearl bowed with her hands in the diamond salute. She had her head tilted slightly downward, to show respect to Blue Diamond’s mourning and to allow the tears that had started flowing the moment she entered the room to fully drip down her face.

“My Diamond, I’ve arrived.”

Blue Diamond lifted her head, deep blue eyes just barely noticing Blue Pearl’s presence. She was in a world of her own most of the time. She paused for a long time before finally speaking to her Pearl.

“Yes... I need to go to a meeting with Yellow Diamond. It’s in her palace,” she said.

Blue Pearl nodded. “We’ll head there now.”

Blue Diamond and her Pearl were in stark contrast to the bright yellow of the sister palace. Their attitude contrasted those of the gems in this palace as well. It seems that those directly serving Yellow DIamond in her palace had not been allowed to fully mourn. That made sense. Most of the gems Blue Pearl had seen still moving and working around Homeworld had been a part of Yellow’s court.

Of course, now, Blue Diamond’s presence caused tears to come from every gem, even the most stern and coldhearted of them. They couldn’t handle her power nearly as well as the gems in Blue Diamond’s palace. Some of them collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

Yellow Pearl stood outside of Yellow Diamond’s war room. She clearly couldn’t handle the misery as well as Blue Pearl, but she was still able to perform her duties well enough. She encountered Blue Diamond much more than most gems from other courts.

She bowed deeply while saluting, saying, “Lustrous Blue Diamond, my Diamond awaits you. She’s just inside.” Yellow Pearl opened the door, bowing again. She followed after Blue Diamond and Blue Pearl, then she quickly went to her own Diamond’s side.

“Blue, welcome. I’ve recently cleared a proper proper path through the debris surrounding this star,” she pointed at a star, a red giant with a substantial solar system surrounding it, “I believe that this one would be optimal for a kindergarten producing Aquamarine and Lapis Lazuli, and with a system this large an out-”

“How can you be concerned about conquering new systems right now!?”

A substantial wave of sorrow sweeped the room. Yellow Pearl collapsed onto Blue Pearl, and she caught her before she could hit the ground. Both of them had a substantial amount of tears flowing from their eyes.

One tear traced a path down Yellow Diamond’s cheek. That was actually significantly unusual, typically Blue Diamond only summoned enough sadness to make a bit of water puddle in her fellow diamond’s eye. 

Of course, Blue Diamond herself was crying. She seemed to always be doing that since her death. That was part of what had made there been so many more outbursts in Blue Diamond’s palace. Feelings were always running high.

“Blue, I have to. We have an Empire to run. Work doesn’t stop just because of your feelings. You can’t be so immature. Pink-”

“Don’t. Don’t use her name in this argument. She… Yellow, why aren’t you grieving? Why can’t you let me grieve? Of all of the things to have a meeting for!”

Blue Diamond turned around and ran out of the room, sobs echoing in Blue Pearl’s ears.

“Blue, you can’t! Oh, stars.” Yellow Diamond shook her head in disappointment. 

The door closed behind Blue Diamond, leaving Yellow Diamond, Yellow Pearl, and Blue pearl dumbfounded.

Chapter Text

Blue Pearl quickly realized she was still supporting Yellow Pearl. She got her fellow Pearl on her feet, feeling incredibly awkward. 

“I’m sorry…” she mumbled.

Blue Pearl then realized she was without her Diamond, in Yellow Diamond’s war room. After a very short, but distressing moment between the two Diamonds. Stars, this was strange.

“My apologies, I should be joining my Diamond now,” Blue Pearl said while saluting Yellow Diamond. She was very soft spoken, but in the tense stillness of the room she had surely been heard. 

Blue Pearl rushed out of the room before Yellow Diamond or Yellow Pearl said anything. It was less that she actually had to immediately return to Blue Diamond’s side, because she would likely just dismiss her Pearl. It was that she didn’t want Yellow Diamond to order her to get Blue Diamond to return, or anything of the sort. Blue Diamond surely wouldn’t be in the right mindset to continue the meeting.

It could also have just been that it was a very, very awkward situation. Blue Pearl was out of place, a reminder of the rift that had just formed between the diamonds, and she had just been holding on to Yellow Diamond’s own Pearl!

Overall, Blue Pearl had decided she had no reason to stay any longer. In fact, once in the hallway, she decided she should head straight for Blue Diamond’s Palace. She was just a Pearl, she was just a servant, and she shouldn’t get too involved in the discourse of her superiors. It wouldn’t be proper.

Quickly traversing through the hallways, she saw multiple gems wiping their tears and getting back on their feet. She wasn’t too far behind her Diamond. It also seemed as though Yellow Diamond’s court wasn’t too happy seeing Blue Pearl so shortly after being heavily disrupted by her distressed Diamond. 

Blue Pearl didn’t mind, even high ranking gems such as these weren’t significant to herself, since she was in Blue Diamond’s court and she was, of course, very close to the Diamonds. She just hoped that this rift wasn’t significant enough to cause lasting damage to the Diamond’s relationships. That could cause real problems. The Diamonds had been more distant from each other since… Blue Pearl surely wouldn’t want any more issues.

Despite the fact that she knew Blue Diamond couldn’t be very far ahead of her, she hadn’t seen her Diamond. Perhaps she was running, probably all the way back to the pool- That was one of Blue Diamond’s most solemn places. It was likely she was already there.

Walking through the halls of Blue Diamond’s Palace was as lonely as always. Blue Diamond’s court was grieving more strongly than in any other court- following their Diamond’s example. Apart from a few posted guards at some doors, she walked in solitude to the door to the pool room.

Right when she arrived she could hear her Diamond sobbing, and grief was rippling across her. Blue Pearl had to consider for a moment- would it be best to just leave her Diamond alone? Typically, Pearls had to be dismissed by their owner officially. However, with the amount of distress Blue Diamond was in it seemed to make her weaponized emotional powers constantly flow off of her. Blue Pearl had a feeling that it was only a fraction of what her Diamond was feeling.

Blue Pearl decided that it wouldn’t benefit anyone for her to bother Blue Diamond. She shouldn’t just take the liberty of running off, though. Instead, she waited outside of the door, pondering things.

Pearls don’t usually ponder things. In fact, Blue Pearl did many things that weren’t normal. Her Diamond didn’t mind, and actually allowed her to do some of these things. Blue Pearl had a feeling that it was more about Blue Diamond’s apathy than her opinions on Pearls. None of Blue Pearl’s behaviors were obvious to any other gem- and they surely didn’t impair her work. But, sometimes, she felt a pit in her stomach.

Blue Pearl stopped pondering. Blue Diamond had stopped crying—audibly, that is. It was unlikely that she had actually stopped crying. Blue Pearl hoped her Diamond was well enough for her to get actual orders on what to do. It wasn’t helpful to just stand in a hallway, doing nothing. Perhaps she could do something to help.

She walked in carefully, but that didn’t negate the rush of sorrow. Thankfully, it seemed Blue Diamond had calmed down a little. Blue Pearl wiped away her tears.

“My Diamond,” she said, saluting.

Blue Diamond turned around. The hood on her head shaded her face, and made it hard for Blue Pearl to make out her eyes. It felt sort of eerie, how distant Blue Diamond had been recently. It was even more surprising considering Blue Pearl was so close to her before, she was always nearby. It wasn’t the same anymore.

“Pearl, we need to go to Pink’s Human Zoo,” Blue Diamond said, “I need to… Pearl, open the door.”

Blue Pearl opened the door again. “Of course, my Diamond.” 

Blue Diamond led the way to her ship. The halls of the palace felt as empty as usual. Blue Pearl wasn’t sure that the solitude was doing any good for her Diamond, but she was just a Pearl. Blue Diamond didn’t need advice from a Pearl. Besides, if her interaction with Yellow Diamond was anything to go off of, she didn’t seem open to taking any advice, regardless of where it came from.

Blue Pearl tapped the diamond on the wall, opening the door to the massive ship. Blue Diamond nodded to her, walking inside, but before Blue Pearl could follow, she was interrupted. Someone spoke to her.

“Blue Pearl? My Diamond sent me to request Blue Diamond’s presence, again… Where are you going?” Yellow Pearl seemed to ramble a bit, which was unusual for her. She was always so precise and seemed to never mess up or be unsure.

“Oh… Uhm, me and my Diamond are going off-planet… The Human Zoo,” Blue Pearl answered. Her speech felt even quieter than usual, and so, so, so useless at conveying what she wanted to say.

“I should go. Sorry…” Blue Pearl said, and then she turned around and walked into the ship. She closed the door behind her.

That was terrible. Blue Pearl not only demonstrated how much more competent Yellow Pearl was, she also made it possible for Yellow Diamond to follow her and Blue Diamond to the Human Zoo. She was sure Blue Diamond wouldn’t appreciate her grieving being interrupted, and she was sure Yellow Diamond would love to interrupt it. Yellow Diamond was obsessed with facility and usefulness. She never understood Blue Diamond’s need for emotion.

Blue Pearl returned to her Diamond’s side. Looking out from the ship, countless stars, planets, and beautiful astral bodies sprinkled the sky. Thousands of worlds, sparkling to all the gems of Homeworld. Somewhere in between those sparkling dots was their destination.

Chapter Text

The beauty of space never failed to enchant Blue Pearl. It wasn’t uncommon or unusual for her to experience it, she left homeworld often. It just always felt wonderful to leave behind the tethers of any given planet and drift in the glittering soup of the area in between. In every direction there were new possibilities.

She had never spent extended time in space. Blue Diamond had always been busy, moving from place to place, commanding and organizing the empire she had built. Blue Pearl felt that simple moments couldn’t be a part of her duties. Her wants as a Pearl didn’t matter.

Something had changed. Blue Diamond’s grief made her pause, she couldn’t bear to focus on anything besides her sorrow. This allowed Blue Pearl to take her time to appreciate life, but it felt soured. Not only did Blue Diamond constantly radiate her own sadness, Blue Pearl had also been somewhat… repressed. She could appreciate the simple beauty of the stars and space, but none of the deeper thoughts and emotions she had had before could bubble up. She couldn’t seem to handle it.

That didn’t matter. She wasn’t supposed to have “deeper” feelings, she was a Pearl. She wasn’t even capable of being truly sad about her loss of feeling—it itself would be a feeling, and again, she wasn’t supposed to feel it. She should stop. Why couldn’t she seem to? Was she created like this, full of endless useless thoughts…

She wasn’t helpful this way. She missed always knowing what to do. Having thoughts, having empty time to fill, it was the opposite of what a Pearl was meant to be and do. The thoughts that filled this time now weren’t even meaningful. But, Blue Diamond didn’t want her to do anything. Blue Diamond just wanted to stay swallowed up in her own misery. 

It’s not like she was ever the perfect Pearl—Yellow Diamond wouldn’t tolerate her Pearl drawing, and White Diamond would shatter both Blue Diamond and Blue Pearl if she knew what Blue Diamond allowed— but she wasn’t some off-color waste of minerals either. Sometimes she thought she should belong to a lower Gem, but just not a Diamond.

Blue Diamond looked down at Blue Pearl from her large throne. Her face was mostly neutral, but Blue Pearl wasn’t sure she was imagining the glint of appreciation in her Diamond’s eyes. Despite the fact that she was surely inadequate, Blue Diamond didn’t have a problem with her. Sometimes that helped.

“Is there anything you wish me to do, my Diamond?” Blue Pearl asked. She was sure she already knew the answer, though.

“Perhaps… You should send a message ahead, to the Zoo,” Blue Diamond said. That was a good idea. It was also not what Blue Pearl expected. Maybe Blue Diamond would come back, eventually.

“Of course, I’ll do that right away.”

Blue Pearl summoned her holo-pad and found the Human Zoos communication line. The Gem in charge there would be monitoring it. Blue Pearl thought that it must be Holly Blue Agate now. Since… Since she had left, Blue Diamond had been spending her time mourning her and reorganizing everything she left behind. Every member of her entourage had been shattered, thanks to their inability to save her, including the Agate that originally ran the Zoo.

Blue Pearl sent a message alerting Blue Diamond’s Agate that they would be arriving soon. Blue Pearl wasn’t ever sure why they did this, but Blue Diamond often sent an advance notice when they were heading to a location. Maybe it was to make sure every Gem there behaved, but weren't Gems supposed to be doing that anyway? Perhaps some stations had to change their settings to accommodate the Diamond’s size and presence. That was what Blue Pearl found most probable.

A tear fell down Blue Pearl’s cheek. Then more. She was crying again. Blue Diamond was crying again. It wasn’t the worst it had been, but it was disheartening to Blue Pearl. Her Diamond couldn’t make it through one ship flight without crying. Maybe she would grieve for much longer, maybe she would never be the same, and Blue Pearl would be forced to struggle with this for the rest of eternity.

She shouldn’t make hasty assumptions. It hadn’t been all that long since she had been shattered. Blue Pearl would just have to make it through the pain. All the pain. She had to make it, if she couldn’t, she wasn’t fit to be Blue Diamond’s Pearl. 

If a better Pearl, a more perfect Pearl who wasn’t hurt so much by this emotion was made, Blue Pearl couldn’t deny that that Pearl would be better for her Diamond. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, though. It didn’t matter how many millennia she had to wait, she just had to believe Blue Diamond could come back and she could be a normal Pearl.

Something clearer than the sparkles blurred through Blue Pearl’s tears came into view. Outside of the ship, the spire-like Human Zoo stood out from the void of space. They had made it, so now Blue Diamond could… do whatever it was she wanted to do. She wasn’t actually clear on that. Not that it should matter to Blue Pearl.

The Human Zoo did have a separate entrance for the normal ships, and one that the Diamond’s ships could use. They weren’t exactly a typical size or shape, and the way they had to exit the ship was abnormal as well. Blue Diamond piloted the ship to press the giant blue hand to the ship, where doors on each side opened. 

The halls of the Human Zoo were empty, and very incredibly pink. Usually Blue Diamond was greeted when she entered any station, but the Zoo was probably very disorganized. There weren’t even any of the Earth Quartzes in sight, and this is where most of them had been assigned, to Blue Pearl’s knowledge.

Blue Diamond didn’t acknowledge any difference. Despite the fact that Blue Pearl had no idea what they were doing here, Blue Diamond clearly did, because she walked a predetermined path through the large halls. They were clearly only there to accommodate Blue and Yellow Diamond, because to the side there were access points to much shorter hallways that fit typical gems.

Once the two of them got further into the facility, they did see some guards in the other hallways. Mostly Amethysts, but a few of the lower-quality Quartzes were here too. If Blue Pearl was remembering right, that was probably just because not very many “test” Gems were made. It was also likely, so long as Blue Pearl was thinking of the right Agate, that Holly Blue Agate simply didn’t like stationing poor-cut Gems so publicly.

Despite the tears rolling down their faces (and their clear inability to handle it), the Quartzes mostly seemed anxious about being in the presence of a Diamond. Thankfully for them, Blue Diamond would only see them if she specifically tried to, and she was not interested.

Their nervousness made sense for their situation. Most Colony Gems never expect to, and never will, meet a Diamond. Homeworld Gems never behaved the same way, since Blue and Yellow Diamond were commonly seen around their home planet. Usually Gems stationed someplace in space won’t either, but the Human Zoo wasn’t exactly someplace the Diamonds wanted to visit much anymore. At least, that's what Blue Pearl would have assumed.

Blue Diamond stopped in front of a fancier door. There weren’t very many Diamond-sized doors in the hallway, but this one was clearly tall enough. The decorations and framing around it clearly designated it as a Diamond space. Blue Pearl pressed the diamond-shaped screen and opened the door for Blue Diamond.

The room inside was dim, with most of the light heavily concentrated in the middle, where pillows were arranged. It must have been some kind of personal room for her. Elevated platforms surrounded the pillows in the center, lined with columns. Stairs led up to them, and Blue Pearl could just barely see a few normal-sized doors in the darkness. 

Above everything were sparkling pink bubbles. They adorned the room, looking like pink stars along with the normal ones shining behind them. They seemed to almost double the number of stars, too. Inside each one there was a Quartz Gem. A Rose Quartz Gem.

Chapter Text

Blue Pearl felt her mind race, and her body started shaking. Her head spun. She didn’t feel stable in her footing. Something was really wrong. 

Was Blue Diamond upset- were these her feelings? They were unusual for her power, but probably not totally impossible. Maybe Blue Pearl had to learn how to withstand new types of suffering. Blue Pearl looked up at her.

Blue Diamond wasn’t shaking. She walked to the center of the room and sunk into the pillows. Eventually, her power did wash over Blue Pearl- The room filled with her grief and tears welled up in Blue Pearl’s eyes. But it was a different feeling. Blue Pearl was shaking, she couldn’t think straight, and now she was also crying.

It was too much. She couldn’t understand, this room, her own feelings, none of it made sense. She stood frozen just inside the door. Blue Diamond’s power came in waves, as her sadness became greater and her tears stronger.

Blue Pearl also kept shaking. Some strange feeling grew inside of her. The normally distressing tears brought on from her Diamond just pushed everything over, and so it all spilled into her actions.

She ran. She opened one of the side doors, one Blue Diamond might not even notice, and she ran away. It wasn’t like she was running away from her Diamond, really, the Human Zoo was very finite. Blue Diamond could summon Blue Pearl whenever. It’s just that she couldn’t stand that room.

Why couldn’t she? She hadn’t ever seen it before. It wasn’t the first time she had been in one of her rooms. Something happened when she saw the bubbles. The Rose Quartzes, a gemtype that represents all of the mourning for her. Blue Pearl wasn’t mourning, and she hadn’t even particularly allowed herself to feel any anger about what happened on her colony.

It was some other feeling that the bubbles caused. Pearls weren’t supposed to feel. It was probably for good reason, since most every feeling was terrible and definitely impedes everyday work and function. There was something about this feeling she couldn’t shove away like the rest.

It was subsiding, though. She was standing just around a corner, leaned against the wall, and she felt stable in her footing again. She stood up straight. She shouldn’t have ran, that was completely improper behavior. She should go back.

She looked back down the hallway. The door had closed itself. She walked at a slow, measured, reasonable pace back to the room. She was only halfway down the hallway when an immense sorrow hit her like a rock. Blue Diamond was still upset, and much more than usual. Blue Pearl felt like the weight of emotions she couldn’t understand had just hit her, and she sank to the floor.

Of course. Her Diamond wouldn’t come here for any reason other than to wallow in her sorrow, she was fully grieving. But, for Blue Pearl, that meant that being here was being thrown under the worst feelings possible. She would rather have Yellow Diamond’s power used on her, because at least then she would be given the relief of poofing.

She stumbled to her feet and away from the room. She hid behind the wall. Logically, she knew that it was unlikely that Blue Diamond’s power would still affect her from this far away, but she still felt the residual, crushing grief in every part of her mind.

She realized some part of her had already known this would happen. When she saw the room, the feelings she felt… 

She didn’t want to think about it anymore. She just had to handle this, to prove to herself that she was still worthy of being Blue Diamond’s Pearl. Maybe then she wouldn’t spend every spare moment pondering and thinking, which is already treacherous, in a way that didn’t even help her at all.

Clearly she couldn’t be near Blue Diamond, which wasn’t the best, but she would just have to wait anyway. She couldn’t know how long Blue Diamond would want to be in this place. If Blue Diamond was left alone, it could be forever, but Yellow Diamond will likely find her here soon enough. Blue Pearl didn’t want to think about the fact that she hoped Yellow Diamond would interrupt her Diamond sooner.

She decided to find a place in the Zoo that was far away from where her Diamond was. She needed to be able to think clearly before she could handle confusing emotions that didn’t belong to her. She needed to be properly emotionless, a proper Pearl, so that she could be less of a disgrace.

The Diamond’s hallways, which were what she normally saw when visiting any station, were typically sparsely populated sheerly due to its scale. That includes doors, decorations, and of course gems. The normal hallways seemed very cluttered in comparison. She walked down a hallway and there were doors every few steps, and the windows and small details were so much more significant.

The style of the pink, bright, happy station was different from anything she had seen elsewhere. The types of detailing on doors and walls seemed to be depicting the colony the humans had come from. It made sense. The Human Zoo was unlike any facility she had seen elsewhere.

The gem-focused area of the station was shaped in a ring, so Blue Pearl followed the hallway to the opposite side of the station. Every so often, there was a spare Amethyst soldier that gave her a confused glance, but for the most part the station was empty and the Quartzes she did see sincerely didn’t care. 

It felt like a breath of fresh air, because most of the places she went around Homeworld were full of Gems that were actively crying or had just been crying. These gems, of course, were mourning on their own. They had served her. It seemed that they were experiencing something milder than Blue Diamond, though, something less extreme than what Blue Pearl was subjected to every day. 

Blue Pearl stopped and looked out to the stars. The Human Zoo had an entirely different perspective on them than Homeworld. That was one of her favorite parts of traveling throughout space, just a little location shift provided a new look at the same stars. Every planet or station had entirely new constellations and formations. The stars were so subjective.

She just stared at space, doing nothing but identifying stars. It was calming, and so simple. She had visited many stars, seen them up close, and of course she had spent lots of time looking at star maps. Blue Diamond preferred to have another gem plan her future colonies, having a hands on approach to that was more Yellow Diamond’s style.

There was something yellow out there. Among the stars, a yellow shape. It wasn’t still like the things surrounding it. It was approaching the Human Zoo. Blue Pearl was confused for a moment, before she connected the dots. It was predictable, really, she herself had thought about and known that this would happen. Still, she was surprised when she saw it.

Yellow Diamond’s ship was approaching the Human Zoo.

Chapter Text

Yellow Diamond shouldn’t have come here. Blue Pearl would never express this aloud, even though Blue Diamond often said nearly the same idea, but she found Yellow Diamond often didn’t think deeply enough about the emotional impacts of her actions. Blue Pearl doubted that she truly understood how upset Blue Diamond was, but she should know that following Blue Diamond so shortly after deeply upsetting her wouldn’t go well.

Blue Pearl wasn’t sure what to do about this for a moment. She should return to her Diamond’s side before Yellow Diamond gets here, at least. The question was whether or not to warn her Diamond about the fact she was coming. 

Yellow Diamond’s ship was getting closer every second. Blue Pearl could worry about what to do, and… what would happen, when she returned to Blue Diamond. She just needed to get to the other side of the station first.

Blue Pearl didn’t run. She didn’t like running. She simply walked fairly fast. She didn’t take any pauses to enjoy the stars and the aesthetics of the station. Along with her new familiarity of the station she hoped she would be able to make it back to Blue Diamond much faster than she had left her.

Blue Pearl arrived at the wall she had hidden behind. This was going to be the hard part, but hopefully she was more prepared now. If she couldn’t do this, she truly wasn’t equipped to serve Blue Diamond. She needed to prove herself.

She pressed her hand to the gemstone on her chest, trying to reassure herself. She kept it there as she sharply turned around the corner and rushed towards the door.

She attempted to block everything out besides the distance she had to travel and the fact she needed to get there, but she knew there was something besides the tears in her vision hindering her. She ignored the darkness clouding her mind, and she tried not to think about the feelings they really were. It was shocking how well she was able to ignore everything, no matter how temporarily she would likely be able to do it.

She walked inside the room, just barely being able to collapse next to one of the twisted pillars. The grief that filled her being felt like it was attempting to break her gem into shards. It was an assault of suffering that hit her harder than any of the others before it, with the feelings she had held back affected her at the same time as the sadness that radiated off of Blue Diamond in that moment.

Blue Pearl could forget any idea of warning Blue Diamond of Yellow Diamond’s arrival. She couldn’t even look up from the floor, let alone say anything. She thought she might never stop crying, that she would be in this condition forever. It was all encompassing and inescapable. She couldn’t be free.

She wasn’t entirely sure when something changed. There was a slight relief. She felt her limbs beneath her. She could lift her head up and see what was going on, even though her vision was very blurry. She tried to focus and understand what she was seeing.

Yellow Diamond had shown up. She was saying something, but Blue Pearl couldn’t yet make it out. It was loud though, and sounded a little angry, but that was normal. Blue Diamond was still sitting on the pillows, looking upwards.

While Blue Diamond responded, Blue Pearl tried to clear her head. Nothing was physically impairing her hearing, it was just her inability to process the words. This was unlike her vision, that couldn’t quite be cleared since tears still flowed rapidly down her face. The grief still filled her, but the lessened amount gave her a moment to escape her own head.

“...to grieve her! Pink Diamond is gone and she’s just barely been shattered!” Blue Pearl was barely able to catch the end of what Blue Diamond said. She seemed to be pleading to Yellow Diamond.

“Blue, it doesn’t matter what feelings we Diamonds have to suffer. We have to continue running the empire we have built, we’re responsible for countless gems! They rely on us. You’re not just pushing your responsibilities away, you’re impairing other gem’s functions.” Yellow Diamond pushed tears out of her eyes. “Just look at your Pearl. What you’re doing is simply destructive and irresponsible!”

“ Yellow -”

“No, Blue. That’s quite enough!”

Yellow Diamond stretched out her hand toward Blue Pearl. Blue Pearl’s eyes widened, enough for her to see Yellow Diamond’s disappointed expression. She was scooped up in Yellow Diamond’s palm, while Blue Diamond gasped. Blue Pearl still couldn’t see very well, but Yellow Diamond picked something else up.

Blue Pearl looked back at her Diamond, just barely being able to make out her distraught face before the door quickly closed.

Blue Pearl seemed to instantly be in a strange mirror of the ship she had arrived in. The structure of the ship was identical, but the decoration, and most notably the color, did not match. Everything glowed a bright yellow that made it difficult for Blue Pearl’s eyes to focus. Perhaps most strangely, there were gems moving about everywhere. Attendants, technicians, and all sorts of soldiers were present. The ship didn’t have the lonely silence that Blue Pearl was used to on her own Diamond’s ship.

“I can’t believe her! She’s so stubborn…” Yellow Diamond mumbled, setting down Blue Pearl and whatever else she was holding. She sat in the pilot’s seat, identically to Blue Diamond, but she outstretched the opposite hand.

Blue Pearl cleared her eyes. She felt somehow lighter. Her head felt somehow blank. She felt confused and disoriented. But really she felt almost nothing. Then she felt scared and nervous, she was supposed to be serving her Diamond and now she was being taken away and causing problems for her. Then she felt something, but once again there wasn’t anything that she could do.

Someone approached Blue Pearl, mumbling something. Blue Pearl thought she recognized her voice, but she couldn’t seem to focus on what she was saying or who she was. She couldn’t think very clearly anyway.

It was Yellow Pearl. She still couldn’t understand her words, since unlike Yellow Diamond she didn’t seem too worried about whether anyone actually heard them. Yellow Pearl grabbed both of Blue Pearl’s hands and pulled her to her feet, where she stumbled for a moment.

Yellow Pearl cleared her throat. “Welcome to Yellow Diamond’s ship.”

Blue Pearl just stood there.

“Hello?” Yellow Pearl waved her hand in front of Blue Pearl’s face.

Blue Pearl blinked. “Oh… Thank you.”

Chapter Text

“Thank the stars! I was starting to think you were damaged,” Yellow Pearl warbled.

Was she damaged? She didn’t know if she was, or how she could tell. But if she was, she surely shouldn’t let anyone know about that! She was nothing if she wasn’t Blue Diamond’s properly functioning Pearl. She had to fill that role.

“...Well, I’m alright.” She managed a small smile.

Yellow Diamond addressed Yellow Pearl, “Pearl, I’ll be leaving you and Blue’s Pearl back on Homeworld. In the meantime, give her a tour.” She then launched the ship, showing her disinterest in a continued conversation.

“Of course, my Diamond!” Yellow Pearl chirped back anyway. Yellow Diamond didn’t seem to even hear this, let alone grant her Pearl a response.

“A… Tour?” Blue Pearl said.

“Of course! Blue Diamond’s ship was never fully staffed, or functioning, even before Pink Diamond’s…” Yellow Pearl seemed to try and think of the most respectful way to say this, “Untimely shattering. I’m sure my Diamond would like you to know how it’s supposed to be!”

Blue Pearl was a little shocked about how Yellow Pearl talked about the other Diamonds. Of course, she knew Yellow’s Court had a different attitude about recent events, but Blue Diamond’s court generally never spoke ill, in any way, of Yellow Diamond. Thoughts like that were kept private. She shouldn't have been surprised, though, with the way Yellow Diamond treated and spoke to Blue Diamond.

“Oh… Um, of course,” she said embarrassedly. Was that really how others saw Blue Diamond? She would never admit it, but she understood some negative feelings about Blue Diamond’s current state… No, she didn’t! Her Diamond was perfect, she’s just… Upset right now. In any case, she would never guess that Yellow Diamond’s gems saw her as less functioning even before it all.

“Right this way!” Yellow Pearl announced, opening a door that led out of the main piloting room. She walked ahead without waiting for a response from Blue Pearl, which Blue Pearl appreciated. 

The hallway was large, of course, since the entire ship was designed to accommodate Diamonds. She had expected that. What was strange was the fact that it was busy. The hallway was full of gems! Terraformers, mostly, but there were also quite a few soldiers. Blue Pearl also noticed a sprinkle of Peridots working on miscellaneous technology Yellow Diamond’s ship was holding, such as smaller ships or other colonization devices.

Yellow Pearl didn’t seem to find any of this noteworthy, charging ahead to the first door on the right. Blue Pearl began to follow her, when her travel was disrupted! A Peridot had run right into her side. Blue Pearl tumbled right to the floor, landing on her hands and knees. She quickly stood up and looked to the Peridot.

“I’m so sorry!” the Peridot exclaimed, holding a salute. Her face looked genuinely apologetic, so Blue Pearl wasn’t upset. Something was off, though…

This Peridot had metal attachment on her limbs, which she would have originally supposed was a part of her form, but they were clearly abnormal in color for a Peridot’s uniform. They were also strangely proportioned, as they widened and gave her large feet and calves

“...What are those?” Blue Pearl pointed to the Peridot’s legs.

The Peridot looked fairly confused, as if Blue Pearl should already know this. Blue Pearl honestly felt the same way, because it was very improbable that a random Peridot that Yellow Diamond was carrying as a technician had some sort of special circumstance.

“What? Oh, um, those are my Limb Enhancers,” she said, “Most of the Era 2 Peridots are… Defective. Since it was so widespread, they found a solution rather than making new gems. I think other gemtypes are affected too.”

Blue Pearl’s eyes widened. Most Era 2 Peridots are defective? Other gemtypes are too? Why was this, and why didn’t she know about it before? She normally managed Blue Diamond’s gem production, but recently Blue Diamond had stopped assigning those jobs to her. This was completely unheard of!

She didn’t say any of that. “Oh… Of course.” She briefly inspected the Peridot’s gemstone. It looked fine to her, so it wasn’t a major defect, she supposed.

Blue Pearl turned around and finally followed Yellow Pearl into the room she had opened. Honestly, being in Yellow Diamond’s ship felt like she had re-entered the real world. So much had changed… She wondered what Yellow Pearl could tell her about the ship, and about what else she’d missed.

When Blue Pearl entered the room, Yellow Pearl looked a little worried.

“What took you so long?”

“A peridot bumped into me…”

“Oh, stars, some of these gems can be so rude! You’re alright?”

“...Yes.”

“Good! Good. Well, this is the war room . I doubt Blue Diamond uses hers much. Well, she could use it for something different,” Yellow Pearl said.

“She used it for her star maps,” Blue Pearl recalled, “It feels like forever ago… When she was planning her colonization trips, the star map was on the table and she would talk with her advisors about it. Things about what current colonies need a visit from their Diamond, what planet to colonize first, and what solar systems to screen for possible colonies.” Blue Pearl felt a bit of relief, remembering Blue Diamond that way. Maybe she could get back to that version of her Diamond.

“Hmm. That’s practically what Yellow Diamond uses it for, but she’s usually planning more aggressively,” Yellow Pearl admitted, “But, of course, she’s still doing that.”

Blue Pearl chose to not think about Yellow Pearl’s repeated comments, because how she felt about them was upsetting, to say the least. It’s not like being upset by them helped anyone in this situation anyway.

“Of course,” Blue Pearl instead responded simply.

“Well, let’s keep going.” Yellow Pearl began to walk away, and then she paused and looked back. She grabbed Blue Pearl’s hand. “I’ll make sure you don’t get run into, or get lost.”

Yellow Pearl’s concern was touching, really, despite all of the things Blue Pearl found odd or rude about her behavior.

Blue Pearl surprised herself by smiling.

Chapter Text

Yellow Pearl keeping Blue Pearl close was actually helpful. The gems in Yellow Diamond’s ship seemed to know how to clear her path. It wasn’t like they were afraid of her— well, maybe they were afraid of Yellow Diamond somewhat and then by extension Yellow Pearl, but it didn’t feel off putting to Blue Pearl. Just respectful.

It was only a few steps to the next door, where Yellow Pearl pressed the door’s opener, brought them both inside, and began to explain this next area to Blue Pearl.

“This is the Quartz Cubby Room. Depending on how many Quartzes we carry, It’s either full or completely empty. Yellow Diamond is on her way to colonize a few planets and needs muscle to start on that, so we have extra Quartzes beyond what we usually have as a Guard.” Yellow Pearl gestured to the Quartzes throughout the room.

Blue Pearl studied the room. It was much smaller than the hallways, probably because Yellow Diamond wouldn’t need to be in here. Most of the Quartzes were saluting to Yellow Pearl (Blue Pearl assumed they weren’t for her, since they likely even know who she was), but a few seemed to have not noticed her arrival. All of the Quartzes were well made, Blue Pearl assumed Yellow Diamond wouldn’t tolerate any defects in her muscle. There were only a handful of types of Quartzes, including Prasiolite and Citrine, which made Blue Pearl assume that these Quartzes were from the same colony.

“Let’s move on,” Yellow Pearl said, already pulling Blue Pearl out of the room. She seemed to know not to wait for a response from Blue Pearl.

The next room was large enough to accommodate a Diamond. It was one that Blue Pearl recognized. It was slightly long, and resembled the ballroom back at homeworld. At the far side of the room was a yellow throne of a Diamond’s size, and the rest of the room was decorated. Pillars lined the side of the room and there were a few chairs generally facing Yellow Diamond’s throne. Blue Pearl had seen her Diamond use this room often.

“...Blue Diamond still uses this one sometimes. It’s for announcements, or court gatherings, or large meetings… Right?” Blue Pearl said before Yellow Pearl could start explaining it to her.

Yellow Pearl stammered for a moment. “Well, yes. She still uses it?”
“Sometimes she holds mourning gatherings…”

“Oh. Of course. Lets, ahem , move on,” Yellow Pearl seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Blue Pearl supposed she was right when she speculated about how much Yellow Diamond’s court was avoiding the idea of mourning.

Yellow Pearl brought Blue Pearl to another room, and this one appeared to be much simpler than the others. Blue Pearl didn’t know if she had ever seen this on Blue Diamond’s ship, but she would definitely be spending time in it now.

Yellow Pearl began to explain, “This is the observatory. Yellow Diamond doesn’t use it very much, it’s not very func—”

“It’s beautiful…”

Blue Pearl sat down next to one of the pillars that separated the room into rows. Across the entirety of every wall was an incredibly clear window. Blue Pearl started to just stare at space, which moved quickly around the ship. 

The ship, realistically, was moving too fast for any stars to be visible, but it must have some technology that “smooths”  the visibility. Now that she thought about it, Blue Pearl had never noticed any blurring when watching Blue Diamond pilot the ship.

“Aha— What?” Yellow pearl said, genuinely confused. Blue Pearl didn’t respond in that moment, she already felt happily separated from the real world she had been forced to face since being taken from her Diamond.

Blue Pearl did just sit there for a while, but she was distracted from her stargazing when she could tell Yellow Pearl was staring at her instead of the vast space around them. Blue Pearl didn’t like that, and she wanted Yellow Pearl to appreciate the stars too. 

Blue Pearl gestured to the space next to her. “Sit with me… Please.”

Yellow Pearl sat down next to Blue Pearl with a few mumbles, which Blue Pearl responded to by shushing her.

“...I want you to look out the window. With the stars moving, this might not quite be the same as it usually is… In any case, I want you to look at the stars in groups. Try and see the patterns,” Blue Pearl tried her best to explain.

Blue Pearl watched Yellow Pearl try to see what she was seeing for a little, trying to point out certain things to her. She could tell Yellow Pearl was trying, and she did make a few connections, but Blue Pearl didn’t think she was understanding how Blue Pearl saw and appreciated the stars.

“Hmm… I think that I know of one of Yellow Diamond’s colonies near those stars,” Yellow Pearl pointed out the window to a cluster of astral bodies.

Blue Pearl nodded. “Yes, I know that one. The colony you’re thinking about is Biotiuriun, I think… That’s its star.” She pointed to the dullest star in the cluster.

“Y-Yes, that’s right. How do you know that?!”

A little bit of blush appeared on Blue Pearl’s face. “I study star maps sometimes, and now I get to spend a lot of time looking out at the stars as well…”

“Well, that's… Quite impressive,” Yellow Pearl said.

Blue Pearl smiled again. Personally, she thought that… No, she didn’t have thoughts. She should have been doing her job as a Pearl, not studying the stars, but she still appreciated that Yellow Pearl found it nice.

Yellow Pearl looked back to the stars, squinting at things and generally seeming to struggle. Blue Pearl felt bad. She had interrupted Yellow Pearl’s tour, and Yellow Pearl might not even like stargazing at all. Maybe she’s just humoring Blue Pearl.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know why I had you do this. You should just… keep giving the tour,” Blue Pearl whispered, beginning to stand up.

Yellow Pearl grabbed her arm. “Oh, stars no! Well, of course, if you want to continue to tour I’ll oblige! I know I’m great at giving tours. But, I just saw something, right there…” She pointed straight ahead, still squinting.

Blue Pearl looked to where she was pointing. Right away she recognized the planet ahead of them, and she was sure Yellow Pearl was beginning to recognize it too. It had a distinctive crack down the middle that couldn’t be mistaken for any other planetoid.

“We’re about to arrive,” Blue Pearl stated.

Yellow Pearl sighed. “Of course, it’s Homeworld !”

Chapter Text

“We should go.” Blue Pearl rose to her feet.

“Y-Yes, I was about to say that,” Yellow Pearl quickly agreed, pulling Blue Pearl out of the room and through the door.

Blue Pearl allowed Yellow Pearl to lead the way back, following her through the strange crowd. She spared glances at every strange Gem, wishing she knew the answers to her questions about how much of Era 2 she had been missing since Blue Diamond had isolated herself and her Pearl.

Yellow Pearl opened the door to the Pilot’s Cabin, ushering Blue Pearl inside. She followed shortly. The two pearls scurried to the side of Yellow Diamond’s seat, where Yellow Pearl cleared her throat.

“My Diamond, we’ve returned.”

“Good, right on time. I trust the tour went well,” Yellow Diamond mentioned, making Blue Pearl remember to feel bad about disrupting the tour, “We’re landing on Homeworld. Once you arrive, watch over Blue Diamond’s Pearl.”

“Of course, My Diamond!”

“Blue hasn’t been taking care of her things…” Yellow Diamond mumbled.

Blue Pearl felt tense, and was glad when Yellow Diamond didn’t continue talking about her or her Diamond. It didn’t sit right with her when Yellow Diamond and her Gems looked down upon Blue Diamond, and she didn’t like thinking about what things they said, and how she felt about any of it.

The ship thudded against Homeworld’s soil, signifying their landing. Yellow Pearl nodded at her Diamond, even though she wasn’t looking.

“Right this way, Blue Pearl,” she announced, gesturing to and beginning to walk towards the door to the outside.

Blue Pearl followed Yellow Pearl as she opened the door and walked out onto the roof of Yellow Diamond’s palace. As the two Pearls gave the ship some space, it rocketed away from their planet, and Yellow Diamond was going off to colonize another planet.

“Welcome to Yellow Diamond’s palace!” Yellow Pearl chirped.

Blue Pearl looked around the bright environment that decorated the top of Yellow Diamond’s palace. It seemed more grandly decorated than Blue Diamond’s equivalent version, but that could have been the blinding brightness that made it difficult for Blue Pearl to land her eye on any specific details.

“...I don’t think I’ve ever seen this part of Yellow Diamond’s palace,” Blue Pearl admitted.

“OH, of course, you haven’t seen much of it! I have to attend to some of Yellow Diamond’s duties, so you get to see it while I do that!” Yellow Pearl said excitedly.

Blue Pearl nodded, but Yellow Pearl was already heading off somewhere, and of course Blue Pearl had to follow her and hopefully not get lost on the way. She wasn’t that surprised, Yellow Diamond’s court seemed to always be busy doing something.

Wherever Yellow Pearl had to go first must have been on one of the lower floors, because it felt like a long walk to Blue Pearl. The two Pearls traveled down multiple staircases, and they also stopped on a few floors where Yellow Pearl checked on a few choice high-ranking Gems. Blue Pearl wondered if Yellow Pearl even had a set destination, because to her it didn’t seem like they were going anywhere anytime soon.

The Gems Yellow Pearl checked on seemed to mostly be important generals or pilots. A few notable ones were an Emerald who seemed impatient with one of her ship’s repairs, a Hessonite who was bragging to other gems about their recent success conquering a planet with difficult organics, and a particularly fancy Yellow Sapphire who nodded and shook her head rather than waste her time talking to Yellow Pearl.

Blue Pearl was about to conclude that the two Pearls were going nowhere when Yellow Pearl stopped in front of a door instead of a Gem. Yellow Pearl opened the door and marched inside with purpose.

Blue Pearl knew that Blue Diamond’s Palace had an identical room to this one, but she couldn’t recall seeing it recently, and even before everything had changed Blue Diamond didn’t spend much time in it. This room was a center for managing tasks and activities on Homeworld. It had a large throne for Yellow Diamond, with screens she had left open still surrounding it. Yellow Pearl had a station that resembled the one the Pearls had in the courtroom, and she was already standing behind it checking reports on her screen.

Blue Pearl looked around and didn’t see any convenient spots for other Gems, other than standing somewhere in the middle of the room, presumably while saluting Yellow Diamond. This presented an issue for Blue Pearl— She wasn’t sure where she should stand, in her situation. Yellow Diamond hadn’t planned for a second Pearl. Blue Pearl stood right in front of the door for a moment, trying to decide what was proper.

Blue Pearl decided to stand beside Yellow Pearl, which to her felt like a bit of an intrusion. She didn’t have the same status as Yellow Pearl in Yellow Diamond’s palace, and Yellow Pearl might not appreciate Blue Pearl in her space.

Despite Blue Pearl’s doubt, Yellow Pearl didn’t seem to mind her standing just behind her shoulder. Yellow Pearl just continued her work.

Blue Pearl found watching Yellow Pearl work soothing. It reminded her of something else, but she wasn’t entirely sure what. Blue Pearl stepped back a bit, summoned her screen, and started drawing Yellow Pearl.

Blue Pearl felt something. This moment felt simple. Blue Pearl would describe this with a word she didn’t use often; bliss. She was then hit with a sinking feeling— No, a sinking truth , in that she shouldn’t feel anything.

She didn’t want this, and for once she felt that logically it didn’t make sense for her to hate this moment. She didn’t have any duties to fulfill, and that was out of her control. Why should she punish herself for that? Feeling happy didn’t hurt anything, so long as she doesn’t think about it too hard.

Blue Pearl focused on her art, trying to capture Yellow Pearl’s own focus on her work. Blue Pearl was also trying to get the angles right. She hadn’t drawn in a moment, so depicting something again was refreshing.

Yellow Pearl looked over her shoulder just after Blue Pearl felt like she had finished, and she looked intrigued and confused.

“What's that?”

Blue Pearl was startled, but responded, “Uh… A drawing…”

“A what? Aha, let me see.” Yellow Pearl took Blue Pearl’s holo-pad out of her hands.

Blue Pearl was shocked, but Yellow Pearl just squinted at the drawing. Blue Pearl worried that Yellow Pearl wouldn’t approve of it- Possibly, she could tell Yellow Diamond about her drawing and then she would tell Blue Diamond to not let her draw anymore.

Yellow Pearl cleared her throat. “I think you should ‘draw’ more. Especially me.”

Chapter Text

Blue Pearl blinked. Yellow Pearl… What had she just said? She wanted Blue Pearl to draw her? She wanted Blue Pearl to draw her more? She couldn’t comprehend what Yellow Pearl could mean by that. She had thought Yellow Pearl would immediately tell her off for drawing without being ordered to.

“W-What?” Blue Pearl finally got out.

Yellow Pearl seemed to suddenly regret saying it, acting in a way that Blue Pearl would describe as flustered. “AHA- I only mean… Ahem, it’s good practice to accurately capture courtroom settings, which I attend.”

Blue Pearl wasn’t sure that Yellow Pearl was just explaining her intentions. Something felt different. Anyway, it wouldn’t be proper to question her real meaning, so Blue Pearl just nodded at her. It could cause both Pearls trouble if they concerned themselves too heavily with themselves as gems, they just needed to serve their Diamonds.

“Anyway,” Yellow Pearl mumbled embarrassedly. She returned to finish her work, which Blue Pearl noticed was almost finished.

Blue Pearl was curious to know what Yellow Pearl had to do next- Blue Pearl herself hadn’t been truly busy in a while, and Yellow Pearl’s duties were interesting to her in general.

She had been right, as Yellow Pearl finished her tasks very quickly. Blue Pearl knew that she was an efficient Pearl. She closed the screen and turned to Blue Pearl.

“I’ve finished my tasks for now. Normally, I would just stay here so any Gem could easily locate me, but if something else would be more interesting for you..?” Yellow Pearl said.

Blue Pearl shook her head. “I’m fine here.” She paused for another moment, before adding, “It’s interesting for me to see what you usually do.”

Yellow Pearl nodded. She leaned on her podium in a posture Blue Pearl wouldn’t have expected. Yellow Pearl always seemed like such a professional Pearl, in a way that made Blue Pearl feel inadequate and imperfect. Maybe she wasn’t; maybe every Pearl was somewhat imperfect, in some small, inconsequential way. Maybe it was alright.

Yellow Pearl glanced over at Blue Pearl, noticing that she was watching her. Blue Pearl stiffened up.

“Sorry, sorry…” she mumbled.

Yellow Pearl raised her eyebrows skeptically. “It’s fine.”

“...Is it?”

Yellow Pearl got a smug look, standing up and turning towards Blue Pearl. “I’m a perfect Pearl, but it’s no crime to glance at me. I also make a great model for your drawings.”

Blue Pearl wasn’t quite sure, but she felt more light in her cheeks. She didn’t know why, but she was sure it was because of some feeling she didn’t understand… Probably one she shouldn’t have at all, but she decided since she couldn’t even identify it that was a worry that could wait..

She decided just to nod, unsure of any better way to respond. Yellow Pearl’s intentions were entirely mystifying to Blue Pearl. She found her as unreadable as some organic language’s dictionary. In response, Yellow Pearl snickered, seemingly just to herself, and turned back around. Blue Pearl observed that Yellow Pearl seemingly wasn’t as worried about Blue Pearl’s opinion as Blue Pearl was about hers.

Blue Pearl ran her fingers through her hair, thinking in some way she barely registered. Something was happening in her head, but if someone were to ask her what she was thinking about she wouldn’t be able to tell them. It was peaceful in an intrinsic way.

Of course, once anybody thinks something like that, the peace must be broken.

Blue Pearl’s brain became cloudy, blueness flowing into the room. Sadness and grief that she was incredibly familiar with poured over her, and Blue Pearl felt crushed.

She stood up, alert, because she knew what was about to happen. Yellow Pearl had a similar reaction. Tears appeared in Yellow Pearl’s eyes a few moments before they did in Blue Pearl’s. Yellow Pearl turned to Blue Pearl, a surprised look on her face showing she understood what was happening as well.

The door opened. Blue Pearl was obviously right. Yellow Pearl turned on her heels to face the door, and both of the Pearls quickly took on the Diamond Salute. 

Blue Diamond had an angry expression, so she clearly had other things on her mind despite the fact she was still crying. Her rage was pointed at the only other Gems in the room. Blue Pearl felt as though a crack had just formed in her gem, but when she glanced down it was as shiny and spotless as ever.

“Pearl. Why are you just standing here in Yellow’s Palace ?!”

“M- My Diamond, I… My Diamond, I- I had no choice… The guards…” Blue Pearl choked on her words. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the tears or her own fear.

Blue Diamond seemed less than satisfied with this answer. “You’re my Pearl. You have no place staying complacent in the palace of a Gem who STOLE you.”

“I know-”

“Stop.” Blue Diamond Paused, still angry but clearly trying to move on from a pointless argument with a Pearl. “If Yellow Diamond has the authority to confiscate my Pearl, surely I have the same.”

Yellow Pearl looked even more shocked than before. This was a turn of events Blue Pearl thought Yellow Pearl likely wouldn’t have ever considered. Despite this, Blue Pearl herself wasn’t shocked at all. Blue Diamond was angry.

Yellow Pearl immediately attempted to reject this. “Your luminance, surely this isn’t the best way to handle this-”

“ Silence .”

Yellow Pearl complied, thankfully. Blue Pearl hadn’t realized Yellow Pearl was so argumentative. She knew for a fact that that attitude gained nothing with Blue Diamond, especially considering her recent arguments with Yellow Diamond.

Blue Diamond scooped up both Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl in her hand. She wasn’t particularly careful, and the two Pearls struggled to readjust to sit on her palm. Yellow Pearl seemed somewhat frantic and once she sat up she looked distressed at her rapidly disappearing surroundings.

“Oh, stars!” Yellow Pearl exclaimed quietly, clearly trying not to notify Blue Diamond.

Blue Pearl took Yellow Pearl’s hands and quietly tried to reassure her, saying, “It’s okay. She won’t take you too far, and any duties you have will be dealt with by Yellow Diamond’s gems. This is out of our control.”

Blue Pearl wasn’t quite sure how she had become so coherent and reasonable, something had just called her into action.  She had successfully helped Yellow Pearl calm down. Yellow Pearl seemed better now, but they were still holding hands as Blue Diamond took the both of them into the dark, dreary, and sorrowful halls of Blue Diamond’s Palace.